Have you ever anticipated the release of a new software update only to be annoyed by unexpected glitches? As outside users (or end users), we can quickly tell when there's an issue with the release of a new product or application, because we see a glitch or an issue with functionality. However, for the IT teams actually creating these products, it's a lot more complex. Product and application releases are dependent on many factors: gathering requirements, organizing teams into development cycles, development, testing, and finally releasing. Managing all aspects of a project is complex and things can quickly spiral out of control. Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) tools allow IT teams to organize information and manage teams related to product releases. To ensure successful releases for our clients we designed, built, and equipped our Beyond Services team with our own ALM solution, Bluewolf Sightline, that is native to Salesforce.

Maximizing Consultants’ Time
No company wants to pay a consultant to do manual, time consuming tasks when the consultants should be building solutions. Utilizing Bluewolf Sightline when completing projects allows Bluewolf Beyond to automate many of the tasks that promote good governance, reduce risk, and accelerate the deployment time between releases so they can focus on the bigger picture of a solution. Armed with this technology, Beyond can focus on project goals without compromising quality. If you’re paying for a consulting team, that team should be empowered to get the most out of the hours spent on your project and Sightline helps achieve that.

Bluewolf’s Sightline solution is just one facet of our technology-driven method that assists in managing releases across multiple instances of Salesforce. This means that each Beyond team can maintain project quality, transparency, and increase project efficiency without having to worry that key information is getting lost in the noise.

Clear, Consistent Communication
Communication issues and a lack of centralized information can often cause this noise. Imagine your team is putting together a puzzle and each person only has one piece, but no one knows what the actual puzzle is supposed to look like. That’s what poor project management can feel like and this lack of clarity is how compounding issues go unfixed, release after release. Bluewolf’s Sightline helps centralize communication, create an audit trail, and reduce risks because everything can be tracked in Salesforce. Sightline allows a more efficient use of centralized information because teams are able to see what changes were made, why they were made, and who made them. You can consolidate and track all the information related to a product release, including: requirements, test scripts, and development sprint information. By aligning these aspects of the project, ALM creates a collaborative environment that is much more seamless.

Solutions You Can Trust
Our first focus when building solutions for clients is helping them meet their business goals. However, we know their solutions need to be dependable and have longevity. When we use Sightline in our services projects, the record created by the audit trail enables us and our clients to create strong governance practices because they can review the history of changes and why the changes were made in their project. You can preview whether any changes will disrupt existing functionality, reducing the risk of breaking any piece of the system. As simple as it seems, using an ALM tool that has been built within Salesforce is immensely helpful because it encourages use thanks to the fact that you don’t have to switch systems in order to record a change or add information. Finally, Sightline gives our clients with storage for all information relating to a product release including requirements, test scripts, sprint information, and tracked changes so if they ever need to look back on a project, that data is neatly packaged for them.

To learn more about the best practices and tools for maintaining Salesforce once it’s live, download our whitepaper on the Innovation Mindset.